Mother Caroline's Love for Orphans Continues in SSND

From the very beginning of SSND ministry in North America, orphans held a special place in the heart of Mother Caroline. In her letters, there are numerous references to her love for and care of orphans.

“We had been in Baltimore scarcely a week when Rev. Father Rector J. Neumann sent us two orphan girls, ages 5 and 7 years old. Their stunted, haggard bodies amazed us.” [#10, 1850]

“A School Sister feels still other, although painful, joys when she takes the place of mother to poor forsaken children. Foundlings arouse perhaps the deepest sympathy; therefore, they also possess our entire love… We received children who were found on the road, in the snow, at street corners and in pools.”[#15, 1856]

“These poor little ones! It makes one’s heart so warm, so tender – and at the same time – so heavy, when children are abandoned by their own parents and are given to us, even forced upon us.” [#19, 1858]

During her lifetime, Mother Caroline would frequently give permission to a local community to accept an orphan to live with the sisters. She also opened a number of orphanages to care for these children.

Louisiana
In 1857, 10 years after the arrival of SSNDs in North America, Mother Caroline accepted the St. Joseph Orphan Asylum in New Orleans, La. This mission would soon become a center for the Sisters in the South. In her letters, she related several visits to it.

“In order not to travel the long way to the [Milwaukee] Motherhouse alone [from New Orleans], I took along a poor German orphan girl as a traveling companion.”
[#17, 1857]

“…St. Joseph’s Orphanage in New Orleans with 120 children who have lost their parents.” [#19, 1858]

“The noble members of the Congregation, which is so well adapted to the needs of our times, have also in America, given proof that they are not only very successful educators of girls and young women, but are also becoming real protectors of orphans and half-orphans.” [#19, 1858]

“At my visit to the school and orphanage, which at present counted 186 children, I could see to my consolation many happy changes in the children and notice the good results which the instruction and influence of the Sisters had on the children.” [#23, 1859]

“From January 2-6, I was occupied with the orphans and the institution. There are nearly 200 children together.” [#174, 1884].

On December 2, 1932, the orphans were moved from New Orleans to Madonna Manor in Marrero, La.

Quincy
In 1865, Mother Caroline sent three sisters and a candidate to staff the St. Aloysius Orphanage in Quincy, Ill. It was formally opened on April 18 when the members of the St. Aloysius Orphan Society, in solemn procession, brought 10 orphans to be cared for by the sisters. Within five months, the number had increased to 50 orphans, so two more sisters were sent to assist in their care.

The younger girls and boys attended school in the orphanage and the older ones attended St. Francis Solanus School where they were also taught by the SSNDs. In 1918, a new orphanage building was constructed. In 1944, this building was sold to the Franciscan Fathers for use as the science department of Quincy College.

St. Aloysius Orphanage in Quincy was a home for orphans, deserted and neglected children. In later years, it also served as a day nursery for children whose mothers had to work in order to provide for their children. Under the direction of the St. Aloysius Orphan Society, it was staffed by the School Sisters of Notre Dame from 1865-1945. During these 80 years, almost 90 SSNDs ministered at this mission.

Honduras
Mother Caroline’s legacy of care for orphans continues to inspire the hearts of SSNDs in our own day. In 1989, Sister Teresita Gonzalez established an orphanage in El Progreso, Honduras, for the children of the street – children abandoned by parents because they are too poor to care for them. Hogar Amistad [House of Friendship] was begun. Working with Patricia and Henry King of Belmar, N.J., and members of COPPROME [Committee for Protective Minors], three homes for girls and one home for boys were completed by 1999. Today, a day care center for children whose mothers are factory workers is an additional part of the ministry to the street children.

Kenya
In 2009, SSNDs in Kenya responded to this need in their outreach program for children whose parents have died from HIV/AIDS. The initial target group of “orphan headed households” consisted of orphans living on their own or with a guardian who is elderly or ill. Already more than 100 children have been reached; a small number compared to the ones in need.

As School Sisters of Notre Dame, we continue to respond to the needs of the youth of our day, especially the poor and marginalized.

[Sources: "Chronicle of St. Aloysius Orphanage," Quincy, Ill.; "Notre Dame Review," September 10, 1944; "The Letters of Mother Caroline," Barbara Brumleve, 1991; "Mission Bulletin," July 1999; “Medical Team Returns from Honduras,” "The Herald," April 10, 1991; "Good News from Africa," Winter 2010]